The only MPs that anyone has a kind word for are those prepared to stand up against their own government. The heroes of the Labour years have been the rebels, such as Gwyneth Dunwoody, David Taylor or Ian Gibson. Older readers may recall that the Tories also once boasted their own have-a-go heroes. They may even remember when Nicholas Winterton was one of them. To his former fans, Sir Nicholas's recent form has been disappointing and sometimes disreputable, including as it does some of the more egregious expense claims and an allegation of sexual harassment, and that was before he got started on the need for MPs to travel first class. But 20 years ago Sir Nicholas was one of the great individualists, leading the health select committee like a death-or-glory tank commander into excoriating and well-made criticisms of the Conservative governments' NHS reforms. As a result the rules were changed so he could be ousted by the whips for serving for too long (a change that might work better for prime ministers) and various chairs have since been sacked for saying what they thought was right, rather than what the whips wanted to hear. This has only increased the hankering for outspokenness among a public sick of placemen. The difficulty is that this quality is often accompanied by crass insensitivity, as Sir Nicholas's own case shows. An MP who could temper the courage to think the unthinkable with a little judgment would be a truly unthinkable thing – a popular politician.